


Wed Locked

by BroadwayCutie16



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Because we need her out of the picture so we can focus on the new main baddie, But not against Lila, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Good Parent Sabine Cheng, Good Parent Tom Dupain, Jealous Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Made-Up Backstory for Sabine, Marinette Gets A Jerky Love Interest Of Her Own, Marinette protection squad, Princess marinette, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Protective Alya Césaire, Protective Nino Lahiffe, The whole class has got Mari’s back, We get rid of her in the beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21740473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayCutie16/pseuds/BroadwayCutie16
Summary: Okay, good news and bad news.  The GOOD news is, Sabine is actually the younger sister of the King of Coccidellenae.  He summons his sister and her family to the kingdom.  Marinette is happy to get away from it all for a while.The bad news?Its not for a while.  The King had a deal made with the neighboring King and Queen of Simosa, that would unite their kingdoms.  The friendship will be cemented by a marriage between their son and a young woman from the Cheng royal clan.Marinette's uncle decides that SHE will be that young woman.After Lila's lies unravel back home, Adrien, Alya, Nino and the class gets back in contact with Marinette, and are relieved to receive her forgiveness.  Their joy is short-lived once they learn of Marinette's impending nuptials.  They fly to the kingdom to save her, only to find themselves struggling to find a way free her from her royal duty.As if that wasn't enough, the bridegroom seems pretty shifty to Adrien.  He and Marinette will have to figure out what's lurking beneath the surface of all this white silk and wedding bells-and maybe uncover some buried feelings-before she is forced down the aisle.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 77
Kudos: 365





	1. Prologue

Rong sat still from where he sat. He could scarcely believe what he had just been told. "Are you certain?"

His head of international security nodded. "As certain as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west." He reached into his robes and pulled out a tablet. "While I was on that undercover mission in Paris, France, I stopped in a local bakery—a boulangerie, as they call it there—for something to fuel me for the task ahead. And when I entered, there she was."

He held up the screen towards Rong, so that he could see the photos taken by the spy's hidden camera on his clothes. A smiling Asian woman stood at the counter, wearing a Chinese-style white top and a lotus blossom in her short, dark hair. She was much older than she had been when Rong had seen her last, but her face glowed and her eyes laughed in the same way he remembered.

"Sabine...after all these years..."

"That's not all.", the agent continued, swiping for more photos. "She co-owns that bakery with her husband."

Rong’s eyes widened at thar last word. "Husband?" 

"A Frenchman.", explained the agent, pointing to a picture of Sabine next to a man. He was tall and bulky and covered in flour from his simple clothing to his bushy brown mustache, but his eyes were kind and his face was sweet, there was no denying the adoration he and Sabine shared in a single glance.

"By the name of Tom Dupain. Even in the brief time I was in that bakery, I could tell that he is a good man."

Rong smiled gently at the photos presented. "I'm glad she has found happiness. But, be that as it may, she still must return home. And since she has married, the husband must come with her."

"Oh, but my lord,", said the agent. "I have yet to tell you the final piece of the puzzle." He paused for dramatic effect, then swiped on the tablet. "They have a daughter."

Rong sat up straight when he saw the next photo appear on the tablet. The girl in the photo was lovely. Her hair was as dark as the night sky with highlights of blue shining in the natural sunlight. Her round eyes were as blue as the ocean that stretched towards their great land. Her pink lips formed a smile that made anyone feel at ease. At just one glance at this picture, Rong could see that this young lady possessed all the striking yet comforting beauties and airs that her mother did. In fact, even at first glance, she reminded him so much of Sabine at a young age.

"Her name is Marinette.", his agent told him. "She is fifteen years old. Charming girl, makes a good first impression. Happy and bubbly, with that certain charisma that Sabine was so beloved for. In fact, she is very much like Sabine was at that age."

Rong stared at the photograph, the wheels in his head turning. This could solve their recent problem.

"Leave me the tablet."

The agent placed the tablet on the floor at Rong's feet. The higher man nodded. "You have served me well. Go see Officer Xio for your reward."

The agent bowed and mumbled gratitude, before graciously leaving the room.

Once he was gone, Rong picked up the tablet and held it close to his face, studying every detail and feature of the likeness of Sabine's daughter captured on film.

"Marinette...", he mumbled to no one in particular. "Your life is about to change."


	2. Royal Bombshell

Marinette sighed as she walked home from school. Another day, another eight hours of Lila sprouting all sorts of wild stories about her fascinating life as an inspiration for princes and rockstars. Another eight hours of the whole class, minus Adrien, catering to her every whim. Another day of Marinette being invisible.

She supposed she should be grateful. The tension between her and her friends wasn't nearly as bad as Lila had promised that it would be. Sure, they still rolled her eyes at her when she acted cold towards Lila, when it seemed like all she was doing was trying to be friends. But they still hung out and acted friendly with her when it did not concern Lila.

It was taking all of Marinette's strength to keep it that way. It was especially hard without Adrien's help. On the contrary, he was rewarding Lila and her lies by being her friend in public. She had even appeared with him in some photoshoots! It had hurt, really. She had thought that Adrien had had her back. But perhaps that had been a lie of his own. Perhaps he really didn't care.

If that was so, than it was a good thing that she had decided to let him go after the Miracle Queen Crisis. It was time she moved on and found a boy who returned her affections, one who did not clearly have her in his friend zone

At least it was all over for today. At least now Marinette could go home and relax before she threw herself back into the whirlwind first thing tomorrow. She looked both ways, crossed the street, grabbed the door handle, and opened the door to the boulganrie.

"Maman! Papa!", she called put as she stepped inside and slipped off her backpack. "I'm home!" As she dropped her bag off at the door, she paused, expecting to hear them call out to her from the back of the kitchen.

Instead, she heard their voices from upstairs.

"Marinette? We're upstairs. And...we have company."

Marinette blinked twice. She had not been informed that they would be having visitors. Still, maybe this would cheer her up after an exhausting day of dealing with Lila. Taking her purse, she made sure Tikki was hidden inside before she dashed up the steps. Coming to the next floor, she opened the door to the family living room. What she saw in there made every muscle in her body freeze.

Her parents were there, alright. Her mother were sitting on the sofa and looking over their shoulders at her daughter. But she did not look happy. In fact, she looked very sad, even a little bit ashamed. Her father could not look at her, his head bowed. But that was not the first thing that Marinette noticed.

What she noticed first were the splendidly-dressed Chinese couple that stood before the Dupain-Chengs, blocking the view of the TV set with their wide, ancient-styled Chinese robes and elaborate hairstyles. The man was dressed in black and looked twice as old as Sabine, his dark hair pulled up into a high Chinese man-bun, his dark eyes stern and cold as he set them upon Marinette, who felt a chill go up and down her spine.

The woman was not much older, and her robes gleamed with vibrant pastels and gold designs, her hair piled and braided atop her head with decorations of gold woven through. Her eyes were lined with black coal, making them pop like a cat's eye, and her lips were painted cherry red, their form squeezed into a tight pout as she stared up at Marinette like a statue.

Sabine smiled at her daughter, but it was a forced, weak smile. "Marinette...come sit down."

The blunette was confused, but she obeyed, coming over to sit between her parents. She saw her father was staring at his lap as if it were the most groundbreaking thing he had ever seen in his life. This scared Marinette. She had never seen her papa so shocked, so silent, so...emotionless.

Turning back to Sabine, her blue eyes were alit with fear. "Maman...who are these people?", she asked in a trembling voice. She hadn't a clue what was going on, and that terrified her.

Sabine took in a breath, a shuddery one, looked at her lap, and gestured a hand towards the couple before them. "Marinette...this is your Great Aunt Cheng Jun and her husband, Wang."

Marinette stared up at the two, her blue eyes widening. Her mother hardly spoke of her family back in China. Her Great Uncle Cheng Shifu had been an exception. And even then, he would not speak to his niece's daughter about any other relatives.

Jun walked to stand in front of Marinette and pointed a finger at the younger girl, the sleeve of her silk robe sliding down her wrist. "Stand."

The tone she spoke in was so calm and composed yet so cold and firm that Marinette rose to her feet without question. Her head bowed down, afraid to meet her aunt's eye, but her ears caught every word.

"Hmm...good posture, nice figure..." Jun clicked her tongue. "For a girl who lives in a bakery, you're awfully skinny."

Jun took Marinette's chin in her fingers and tilted her head up so that their eyes met. The look on Jun's eyes was so cold and emotionless, like the eyes of a statue, that Marinette felt a chill go all through her body.

"Clear eyes...good for threading needles. No acne, strange at that age." Jun squinted at the dusting of freckles across Marinette's nose. "Well, she's no great beauty, but I suppose she's pretty enough."

Marinette had had enough. She swatted her aunt's hand away, earning a pair of horrified gasp from her aunt and uncle, and stared the elder woman dead in the eye. "Let's cut the criticism and tell me why you're here."

Jun looked down at her, irritated. "I see you inherited your mother's quick tongue and temper. Shame." She looked back at her niece, who was still looking away. "Shouldn't you tell her, Sabine? I mean, you are her mother. Isn't it your duty to let her know who she really is?"

Marinette whirled around to face her mother, her eyes clouded with confusion and fear. "Maman, what's going on?!"

Sabine took another shuddery breath, and Marinette could clearly see the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I always planned to tell you one day, when you were old enough to understand. I suppose one day is today." She raised her head to meet her daughter's gaze, her own wet. "I am the Princess of Coccidellnae."

Marinette felt as if the ground had been pulled out from under her feet. "W-What?" She looked at her father, who faced her with a sad gaze, then back at her mother's tear-stained face. "Maman...is this some sort of joke? Because if it is, it is not funny!"

"Its not a joke, Macaroon.", said Tom gently. This made Marinette shut up. Her father had not called her Macaroon since she was seven. This was serious.

Sabine went on. "I was born in Coccidellnae, a small country that bordered China. My father was the King, and he was raising me and my older brother, his heir, Rong, by himself after our mother died when I was twelve. I have no doubt that he loved me and Rong with all his heart, and only wanted the best for us. But what he thought was best for us did not bring us happiness."

"My father was conservative and very old-fashioned. He always put so much pressure on the two of us. Rong to be the exact kind of strict, unmerciful, somewhat cold ruler that Papa was, and me to be the perfect proper princess. He always taught me that good girls were seen and not heard, servile to men, and partake in only ladylike hobbies, certainly not messy baking and video-games."

"He was dead set on marrying me off to the man of his choice, not the man of my choice, when I came of age. Well, I'd put up with a lot of my father's expectations up until that point, but that was where I drew the line. Before my fifteenth birthday, I ran away from that country and immigrated on my own to France, and I never looked back."

After her mother had finished her story, Marinette's head was spinning. Her mother had been a princess?! She was descended from royalty?! For the first few moments, Marinette couldn't speak. She made a few sounds, then managed to string together some words.

"But...Uncle Shifu...he..."

"...gave up his royal title to follow his dream of being a chef.", finished Sabine. "He taught me how to cook behind my father's back. When he visited, he promised not to tell you anything about our family."

Marinette couldn't feel her legs. Surely, she thought, this was some sort of dream that she was having, and any minute now, she would wake up in her bed as Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a normal girl with a normal life, and not the daughter of a runaway Chinese princess. She waited. And waited. And waited. But the illusion did not fade away. Because this was real.

Marinette looked back at her papa. "Did you know about this?"

Tom nodded, looking flushed and ashamed. "Yes...your mother told me when I proposed. She already knew I loved her without the crown. She wanted to see if I could accept her despite it, too. And I did. And I kept my promise to her and never told another soul. Then, when you were born, we agreed we would tell you when we both thought you would understand. We just didn't expect that day to be thrust on us like this."

Sabine rose to her feet and took Marinette's hands in her own. "Sweetie, please understand...I never regretted my decision to leave. Your father, this bakery, you...its everything I've ever wanted. I never told you before because I didn't know how you'd react. Please don't hate me." She looked so scared, scared of rejection, scared of anger.

But her fears were vanquished by the sweet smile of her daughter. "Maman, you had nothing to worry about. I totally get it. Its kinda a bombshell." All three laughed, the air around them much lighter than it had been a few minutes ago.

"Well, wasn't that a sweet moment.", remarked Jun, recapturing everyone's attention. "Back to the matter at hand. Sabine, we're here on your brother's command."

Sabine blinked twice. "Rong? Rong sent you? How is he doing? I haven't seen him in so long...not since I..." She didn't need to finish that sentence.

"He is doing well.", said Jun in a stony tone, no feeling whatsoever. "He took the throne many years ago after your father passed on."

Sabine gasped softly at the mention of her father's death. Marinette's heart wrenched at her mother's grief-stricken expression. It was clear that although the King had been stern with his daughter and set impossible expectations for her, she had still loved him dearly.

"Yes...quite tragic.", Jun commented, again with no sadness. "But Rong is King now. And he has missed you dearly over the years. He wants you and your family to come home at once. He insists on meeting his new brother-in-law and niece."

Jun looked at Tom and Marinette respectively at the mentions of them. "We have a limo parked outside. We'll be waiting while you pack your things."

And with that, she and her husband marched proudly out of the room before anyone could utter a word of protest.

Marinette's eyes were wide. "Go to Coccidellnae?"

Sabine shook her head. "Marinette, its okay, we're not going anywhere! I'll just tell Aunt Jun that—"

Marinette quickly raised her hands to stop her mother's rant. "No, Mom! I want to go!"

Sabine blinked twice. "You do?"

"Of course!", her daughter exclaimed, excitement written all over her face. "I want to meet the rest of my family! I want to explore my culture!"

"And I want to me my in-laws!", said Tom, happy as a clam. "I want them to know just how much I love their daughter, niece, cousin, granddaughter, etcetera, etcetera."

"Please Maman..." Marinette's voice became softer at this part. "Just for a few days."

She shot them with the sad bunny look, a trick she had not pulled since she was ten. Marinette hoped it was working. Despite all she had done to relieve the stress that had been piled on her shoulders, she still felt stretched thin. Maybe some time from all the drama was just what she needed right now.

Sabine took a deep breath in through her nose. "Well...maybe a little family vacation wouldn't hurt. I'll call the school and tell them you won't be in for a while. You two go pack, and I'll keep all our friends up to date—while leaving out the royalty part."

Marinette squealed and hugged her mother. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

Sabine watched her husband and their daughter race upstairs to pack for the trip, hiding a storm of worry behind a smile. They had been so excited, she hadn't the heart to tell them why she was hesitant on going to Coccidellenae—because she feared that once they left France, they would never be able to return.


	3. Adrien & the Truth

Adrien arrived at class a little later than usual. He had had a photoshoot early that morning and had to finish before he came to school. The first thing he noticed was that Lila was sitting in the front, right in Nino's usual spot, while said bespectacled boy was sitting in Marinette's spot.

"Hi, Adrien.", said the brunette, batting her eyelashes at him.

Adrien fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Hi.", he said flatly.

He looked up towards the back, expecting to see Marinette sitting there. But to his surprise, she wasn't there. He looked over at Alya. "Where's Marinette?"

"Oh, she's not here yet.", said Alya.

Adrien's brow furrowed. "Did you ask her if it was okay for you to give her seat to Nino?"

"Nah. She won't mind. Or at least she shouldn't."

Her answer sent Adrien into shock. Alya was just giving away her friend's seat, without her permission or even a heads up? Did she not remember what Marinette had to do to earn back that seat from Chloe? "Shouldn't you see if she's okay with it before you do so?"

"But Lila needs my seat in the front dude.", his friend explained. "Her tinnitus is acting up again."

Adrien suppressed a growl. The ol' tinnitus card again. It figured. He avoided Lila's gaze, lest he reveal a nasty glare. At first, Lila's lies had seemed harmless to him. After all, all she was doing was making up silly stories because she wanted people to like her.

But after what had she had done, first getting Nathalie and the Gorilla in trouble with his father, then framing Marinette for theft, leading to her expulsion, Adrien had realized that he had sorely misjudged Lila, especially since both misdeeds had led to akumatizations. He had initially thought she was a lonely girl, who was desperate to have friends, and a part of him had sympathized with that. But now he saw who she really was—a conniving, two-faced shrew who would do anything to stay on top.

He didn't know how to prove that Lila was a liar. She was too good at keeping that part of herself hidden. And there was no way he could convince her to save Marinette without giving her something in return. Lila was not the kind of girl who would do something without compensation. Adrien had to make it worth her while. So he struck a deal with her—clear Marinette's name, leave her alone, and he would be her friend. She agreed.

He couldn't tell Marinette why he was acting so chummy with Lila all of the sudden, while knowing that she was a lying witch. If he did, and Lila found out, it could be enough for her to consider the deal null and void. She didn't want anyone to know that Adrien was only hanging with her because he wanted to keep Marinette safe, especially not Mari herself.

Then, out of the blue, Gabriel decided to make Lila his muse and include her in photoshoots with his son, and Adrien couldn't protest out of fear that Gabriel might keep him from school and all his friends. He tried to stay positive, but the stress of keeping up the charade was getting to him, not to mention he feared Marinette might hate him now.

He looked back at Nino. "Okay, so she needs the seat. I get that. And it was nice of you to give it to her. But why do you have to take Marinette's seat? Why can't you move to the back?"

Nino and Alya stared at him like he had suddenly gained an extra set of eyes. They were not used to their passive, reserved friend being so abrasive. He was usually so accommodating to everyone, sometimes even to a fault.

He stood there for a moment, waiting for them to come up with a good answer. But all that came from their end was silence. Adrien glared at his friends as he adjusted his backpack. "You know what? You can sit with Lila, Nino. I'll move to the back."

He started the trek up the stairs, ignoring his friends cries that he did not have to do that. But he did. He got to sit with Marinette, or she got her seat back. Either way, he could not sit next to that liar. He was seething underneath his calm, composed surface.

As he slid into the back row, Mme. Bustier entered the room. "Welcome, class. Hope ypur brains are ready for today's lesson."

She turned to the blackboard. "Madame?"

She turned back around to see Adrien's hand raised up high. "Yes, Adrien?"

"Shouldn't we wait for Marinette to get here?", he asked.

Mme. Bustier shook her head. "Don't worry about her, Adrien. Madame Cheng called to tell me that she and her family are going on a little vacation. They'll be gone for a while."

Adrien sat up. "How long will they be gone?"

"She didn't say.", said Mme. Bustier. "But she told me that she'll call as soon as she gets a certain return date." She turned to the blackboard, only to turn back once more at the sound of Lila's voice.

"Wait! My tinnitus! Its gone again! Must be better now! I'll just go sit in the back!"

This time, Adrien could not hold back his groan.  
\------------  
Later, as the class filed out one by one, Nino walked up to Adrien. "Dude, what's the deal with you?", he asked, irritated. "You're starting to act like Marinette did when Lila first got back. Marinette didn't tell you anything, did she?"

That peeved Adrien off. So now Marinette was brainwashing him against Lila? As if sweet, thoughtful Mari would ever do that. What kind of spell had Lila put on their friends?

"She didn't tell me anything.", said Adrien. "I just think its kinda rude that you pushed Marinette to the back without her permission. Don't you remember when school started? How hard she fought to earn her seat back from Chloe? I know she was late, but that doesn't mean you should make decisions for her without her. The least you could have done is shoot her a text to ask if it was okay."

Nino and Alya looked nervous, perhaps even a little ashamed. They hadn't thought of that.

"We thought it would be okay...you know, she's always so helpful...at least she used to be, before Lila showed up. You should've seen her at lunch the first day Lila came back from Achu. She was so mad that we were bringing Lila lunch."

"Wait...you brought her lunch?", exclaimed Adrien. "Why?"

"Because her wrist was hurt!", said Nino.

Adrien looked at him strangely. Another injury? How many afflections could one person get?

"Anyway, Marinette was pretty upset, probably 'cause she was jealous, so she threw a napkin at Lila. Who caught it, but only to save Max."

"Adrien blinked. "Save Max? What are you talking about?"

"Lila said she once saw a man's eye get gouged out by a napkin."

Adrien simply gaped at the two. "A napkin?!", he snapped. "You seriously believed that?! How can a napkin gouge out an eye?! And isn't Max wearing glasses?" Are you seriously that stupid?, was the question that Adrien did not say. How could his friends be so gullible?

Nino and Alya looked surprised, then mad.

"Oh my God, you sound just like Marinette!", said Alya. "You're bullying Lila, just like she was!"

That made Adrien freeze, rendered him speechless. Marinette was the bully? She was bullying Lila? From what he was hearing, it seemed to be the other way around. And worst of all, he had been letting her get away with it.

Alya and Nino scoffed and left him alone, stunned and angry. Angry that they would so easily turn their backs on Marinette. Alya had been her best friend for almost a year now, and Nino had known her since they were little. After everything that had happened, everything she had done for them, she didn't even get the benefit of the doubt? That mere thought disgusted him.

He looked in his bookbag and realized he had forgotten a pencil in the classroom. He turned to go back into the classroom, and was surprised to see Lila still there. Not wanting to risk being alone with her anywhere, he decided to hide and wait for her to leave.

He listened closely when he heard her chuckle to herself. "Family vacation? When I faked that call from my mom, I came up with a better excuse than that."

Adrien gasped softly. He had known Lila had cut school, but he had often wondered how she had done it. Now he knew, she faked a phone call from her mother to get excused from class.

Stop, Adrien., he thought. Her cutting school doesn't hurt anyone but herself. The consequences will catch up to her there sooner or later.

"This is perfect.", Lila continued, snickering. "Without her around, I can easily convince her friends that she's a total witch. No niceness to sway their opinions. I can start all sorts of nasty rumors to turn them against her, and she won't be able to prove them fake. Maybe I'll tell them they insulted her behind their backs, or how she's been picking on me. By the time she gets back, she'll be completely alone. That'll teach her to mess with my popularity."

She spun on her heel and strode out of the room confidentially, never once noticing Adrien hiding behind the door, having heard every word. Anger surged through his body.

"I can't believe her!", he yelled, as Plagg poked his head out. "We had a deal! I become her friend, and she leaves Marinette alone. First, she lies about Marinette, then breaks her promises...do words mean nothing to her?"

"Don't get all upset, kid.", said Plagg.

Adrien looked at Lila's retreating form with an icy glare. "I'm sorry, Plagg, its just...I keep giving her chances, and she wastes all of them."

"Well, I think she's gotten enough chances.", said Plagg. "I know you want to see the good in people, because if you can't, you'd have to give up on your father. But I think its time to expose her."

"How, Plagg?", asked Adrien, running his hands through his flaxen blond locks. "I can't just come on out and say, 'Lila'a a liar'. That's what Marinette did, and no one believed her. And she's the most trustworthy person I know. If her word's not enough for them, what good will mine be?" He was in a dead end. "What do I do, Plagg?"

"Simple. Get proof.", said Plagg.

"How?", asked his chosen.

The kwami flew out. "I've kept this to myself, because I thought it was an obvious solution, and you were just avoiding it because you were making excuses for Lila. Looking back though, you have always been a little dense when it comes to...certain things. So, I guess I'll just have to tell you."

He hovered by Adrien's ear and whispered the plan into his canal. With every word, Adrien's sunny face grew brighter and brighter.

"Plagg, that's genius!", he said once his kwami was finishing explaining. "Thank you! Its perfect!"

He looked out the room, where Lila was being fawned over by their classmates. "You had one last chance, Lila Rossi.", he said sternly. "And you blew it. I'm done protecting you. Time to pay the price."

**For the record, I actually blame the writers for what happened in Chameleon. Here's what I think they had in mind when they thought of the episode.**

**"Hm, let's see. We want Lila to be a bigger threat to Marinette than Chloe. How do we do that? I know! Let's lower the IQ of the whole class so that they believe every word Lila says, even if it doesn't make sense!"**

**"But we also need to give Mari that little push towards being salty towards Lila. I got it! Let's make Alya and Nino act like total jerks who steal their friend's seat and push her to the back of the room without her consent and blame her for not being cool with it! Oh, and we can't let Lila get exposed right away, so we should make it so Marinette conveniently leaves out the part about Lila bullying and threatening her so Adrien just thinks she's** **a harmless liar and doesn't have see any solid reason to expose her until its too late!"**

**"Alright! This is gonna be the best season yet!"**


	4. Coccidellenae

"Sweetie? Marinette? Are you awake?"

Marinette's eyes fluttered open as she stretched out in her bed. "I am now. What is it?" Sabine smiled weakly. "We're here."

Here. Coccidellenae. The land of her birth. But from the look in her mother's eyes, Marinette could tell that she wished they had never come.

Everything had happened so fast the day before. Once they were packed and ready to go, Marinette and her parents had been whisked away in a car, to the docks, where they were swiftly loaded onto a yacht parked on the furthest end, out of plain sight. The keepers of the dock had been paid a hefty sum to keep quiet about their departure. They did not need all of Paris knowing the truth. Not yet, at least.

Climbing out of bed and up the stairs, onto the deck, Marinette stood by the railing and looked out into the distance. What she saw out on the horizon took her breath away. She could see a grand castle of white stone, carved into fine architecture, with towers that scraped the clouds, flags of brilliant colors that flew proudly in the winds. It dwarfed even the tallest skyscraper, and overlooked out the rest of the land, sitting on the beaches.

Aunt Jun stood next to Marinette, smiling at her grandniece's awestruck expression. "Magnificent, isn't it?"

"That's an understatement.", breathed Marinette. "Its the most spectacular thing I've ever seen."

Jun beamed proudly, like she had just won the Nobel Prize. "Its the ancestral home of your people.", she said. "Every generation of the royal family has lived in it's walls, all the way back to the first ruler of Coccidellenae."

Marinette grinned as the ship drew closer. "Its amazing."

Jun smiled. "I'll leave you to admire it. We'll be docking in less than an hour. Might I suggest you tidy up before we port."

She turned and left below the deck, leaving Marinette to stare at the castle in all it's glory and wonder.

"Marinette?"

Tikki chose to come out of hiding as soon as Jun was out of sight, looking concerned. "Marinette, we can't stay here for long."

"I know that, Tikki.", Marinette sighed. As usual, the ladybug kwami was the voice of reason. "But we won't stay here long. Just a few days, a week at the most."

"But Hawkmoth can do a lot in that time.", Tikki reminded her.

"Well, we're already here.", said Marinette, gesturing towards the castle in the distance as they neared shore. "We can't just leave. I doubt they'd let us anyway. Besides, I have the Horse Miraculous now. I can teleport back if there's an akuma. Tikki, all I need are two days. One to meet the family, and another to explore the kingdom. After that, I promise, if we don't leave, and you're still nervous about Hawkmoth, I'll fake an emergency to go home early."

She turned to go change before they reached the port. Tikki sighed in defeat. It was true. There was little they could do now without revealing the true reasons why Marinette was needed back in Paris. They might as well enjoy themselves and worry about other matters when the time came.  
\--------------  
Marinette was helped onto the docks by a well-dressed butler type. When she saw the shiny black limousine parked on the street, the door held open by a chauffeur, she could not contain her girlish squeal of delight. Climbing inside, she saw that it was equipped with stereos, a snack bar with caviar and truffles on silver platters, and a cooler full of fizzy drinks and even a bottle of champagne. The seats were extra-soft and made of leather, promising a comfortable ride to the castle.

As Marinette helped herself to some truffles, she noticed that as they rode high, there was chatter outside, muffled by the windows closed all the way. Without warning, she pushed the button to lower the window, and got a choir of excited scream as a greeting.

"Its her! Its the new Princess!"

"Quick! Get a photo!"

Half a dozen camera flashes blinded her vision before Sabine slammed the button, shutting the windows once again. From the look on her face, Marinette could tell she was not amused.

"Great. Now your photo is going to be in every magazine there us, and everyone will know the truth!"

Marinette flushed with shame. "I'm sorry, Maman."

"Oh, don't be so hard on her, Noodle.", Tom said, pouring some champagne for him and his wife as he referred to her by the pet name he had chosen for her when they first started dating.

Sabine sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes. "I just want this vacation to be over as soon as possible. I wanna go back to my old life, baking sweets and watching TV with my husband and child. I don't want it to get out that I'm a runaway royal."

"Perhaps it is good that people know.", said Jun, nibbling on caviar. "You no longer have to hide."

Sabine scoffed as she took a glass from Tom. "Let's just meet the rest of the family and get this visit over with."

Marinette continued to dine on truffles. This was a good sign. Her mother was already anxious to leave, despite the fact that they had only just arrived a few minutes ago. It should be easy to convince her to return home early, when the time came. She snuck some truffles into her purse for Tikki and spent the rest of the ride in silence.  
\-------------  
They managed to slip through the palace entrance unnoticed by any paparazzi or bystanders. Lining up the walls were ancient portraits of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princess, many important leaders and figureheads. A banner with the family crest, a ram's head surrounded by two ladybugs, hung in every corner of every room.

At last, they arrived at the throne room. The guards pushed the golden double doors open, allowing them entrance, and the family stepped onto the aisle leading to the front. At the head of the room, stood a golden throne, covered in red silk cushions, on a podium of three steps. And sitting on that throne was a man reaching his fifties—King Cheng Rong of Coccidellenae.

He was tall, with strong, chiseled facial features, bearing a thin mustache-beard combination that was the same jet black as his thinning black hair. He had a scar on his right cheek, and a mole right next to his left eye. He wore grabd robes of red and gold, and a black coronet on his head. His eyes were dark, but as soon as they were set upon Sabine, they lit up and sprakled like stars.

"Sabine!"

He leapt off his throne in a quite un-kingly fashion and bolted towards his sisters, taking her into his arms and spinning her around. "How I've missed you!"

A much-needed smile appeared on Sabine's face. As much as she didn't want to be here, she was happy to see her big brother again. So she returned the hug and said sincerely, "I missed you, too."

Placing her back on her feet, Rong looked over at the tall man behind her. "Ah! Thomas! I recognize you from your picture! I trust you've been treating my baby sister like the princess she truly is."

"Princess? I treat her like a queen!", said Tom, in a tone that was stern but playful. Even slouched over, he was at least a foot taller than his brother-in-law.

Rong's eyes finally got sight of the young lady in pink and pigtails. "Ah...Marinette...you, I've been especially looking forward to meeting."

He placed his hands on her shoulders, drinking in the appearance of his niece, studying her features, noting which ones he recognized from his sister and the ones she must have inherited from her father's side of the family. "You are truly a beauty. Just like your mother."

Rong took a step back. "I've arranged living arrangements for all of you. There will be a dinner tonight with the whole family. Aunt Jun and others have laid out some suitable formal wear for you to appear in. We will be meeting in the banquet hall at five o'clock sharp. Please be punctual."  
\------------  
A handmaiden unlocked and opened the door to Marinette's temporary bedroom. The blunette gasped as she stepped inside and dropped her bags to the floor. It was a bedroom fit for a princess. Warm rugs protected her feet from the cold wooden floors. A white vanity desk with spindly legs stood next to a huge wardrobe of white wood lined with gold decor. The canopy bed had sheets and curtains of pale pink silk that fluttered in the breeze coming from the balcony window.

"Your Aunt has left your attire for tonight on your bed.", said the handmaiden. "If you need anything else, Your Highness, just ring this bell." The maid placed a silver bell on a brass handle in Marinette's hand, then exited with a curtsey.

Marinette glanced around. Your Highness...that new title would take sone getting used to, she knew that much.

She walked over to her bed and saw that a set of clothes had indeed been left out for her. It was a lovely pink hanfu dress with an undershirt with a sheer blue high collar, an lilac underdress that fell to the floor and left a train, a piece of pale blue cloth to wrap around her waist, and a long red sash that was at least three yards to keep it all secure. Her aunt had also left a set of flower-tipped hairpins to adorn her tresses with.

Marinette once more squeaked with delight and scooped the dress off her bed, hurrying behind a silk panel divider to try it on. She was enjoying herself so much, she hadn't given a thought to everyone back home since she had woken up that morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to read the next part early, sign up to my Patreon BroadwayCutie16!


	5. Your Chat is Showing

Adrien entered Le Grande Paris Hotel, looking around for his contact. If he was going to clear Marinette's name and show Lila's true colors, he would need to stay focused on the mission. Right now, everyone was at lunch. He had managed to tell his father that he was sick in the nurse's office, with Nino covering for him, to get out of the photoshoot scheduled for that day. Luckily, his friend had not pressed on the reasons why Adrien wished to skip the shoot. He just figured Adrien wanted a break.

Adrien went to the front desk, and smiled sincerely. "Pardon, but I have an appointment with Mousier Jagged Stone. What room is he staying in? My name is Adrien Agreste."  
\---------------  
"The young Mousier Agreste is here."

Jagged's face lit up when he saw the teen model enter. "Ah! Good ol' AA! Come right on in!"

Adrien sat on the sofa next to the rockstar as he strummed his guitar. "Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Mister Stone."

"Call me Jagged!", he said, his British accent complimenting his friendly, laid-back tone. "And its no biggie! I remember you in the front row with Marinette at the last concert I did in Paris! Any friend of Mari's is a friend of mine!"

Adrien smiled. "Funny you should bring up Marinette. I came here because I wanted to do something really special for her, and I was hoping you could do me a favor."

"Of course! Anything for Marinette! What do you need me to do?"

Adrien grinned wider. "She's done so much for everybody and gotten so little in return. So, I was kinda hoping you could show up at school to surprise her, maybe even put on a little private show for her and her friends."

"That sounds like a splendid idea!", Jagged exclaimed.

It was then that his producer chose to intervene. "No way! Jagged isn't doing anything for free!", snapped Bob Roth.

Jagged frowned. "And I say its the least I can do for the girl who designed my album cover and helped me rise back to number one on the charts!"

Adrien grinned like the cat that got the cream. "Great! Can't wait for you to get there..."  
\----------------  
"A surprise party for my daughter?" Madame Rossi looked intrigued by Adrien's announcement. "And you want me to be apart of it? How nice of you and your class to set up something nice for Lila!"

The blonde model nodded. "I wanted to do something big for Lila. I mean, she has done so much since she came to school. She deserves everything I plan to give her."

Madame Rossi looked pleased as punch. "I knew my bella was popular, being the class representative and everything, but I never thought she'd be this beloved! I'm so happy! You know, Lila has always been a little unsure of herself. She didn't have a lot of friends back in Italy. But ever since we came to Paris, she's really blossomed! Don't worry, I'll be there! I've been wanting to come and see for myself how Lila is glowing at school!"

Adrien hid a mischievous smirk. "Perfect..."  
\----------------  
He snuck back into the nurse's office, where Sabrina was waiting for him.

"Well?", she whispered as he slid into the seat next to her.

Adrien grinned. "Its done."

The nurse came back, and Adrien jumped to his feet. "Hey! Whaddaya know! I'm feeling much better! I think I'll go back now! Thankseeyalaterbye!" And he was gone in a blur of black, white and blonde.

Sure enough, everyone was crowded around Lila's table as she spun a new tale. Adrien could not help but smirk devilishly. "Enjoy your popularity while you can, Liar-la.", he remarked, patting himself on that back for thinking up a new nickname for her. "It's not gonna last much longer. Thanks to Jagged Stone, you're about to hit rock bottom. Time to face the music."

"Careful, kiddo.", whispered Plagg. "Your Chat is showing." The little cat could hardly contain his smug glee, either.

"Lily!"

Benigna Rossi's voice rang out from the doorway, and Adrien smiled seeing her entering the school grounds, cameraman close behind in tow. He looked back at Lila, and the look on her face gave him almost as much satisfaction as defeating an akuma. Her eyes were wide, and her skin had paled. If death had walked in, she could not have looked more shocked and terrified.

"Mom! Wh-Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"You'll see soon, baby.", said Benigna, smiling at the classmates. "Are these your friends? They seem nice."

Alya's face lit up. "Madame Rossi! Its good to meet you! Do you mind if I get an interview with you for the Ladyblog?"

Lila jumped up, waving her hands all about in a panic. "No! No, Alya, that's okay! She doesn't need—"

"Of course!", said Benigna, not seeming to hear her daughter. "I'd be honored. What do you want to know?"

Alya pressed the record button on her phone and started talking. "So, tell us true, how was your vacation to see Prince Ali?"

The pride on Benigna's face gave way to surprise and confusion. "Vacation?"

"Yes! Lila told us you and her were personally invited to visit Prince Ali of Achu, and that's why she was out of school for so long!"

Benigna's face turned to stone. "Prince Ali...Lila told me the school was closed."

A thick silence fell on the grounds. After what felt like an eternity, Nino broke the quiet.

"Why would the school be closed for months?"

"Lila said your principal got akumatized.", said Benigna. "Well...he did...but Ladybug and Chat Noir de-evilized him the day after he got infected.", Mylene told her.

Alya bit her lip. "So...you only let her go to Achu because you thought the school was closed?" She had a sinking feeling that she knew what the truth really was, but she did not want to believe it. She did not want to believe that she had been duped by Lila. She did not want to believe that the girl who's interview she had posted on the web for all to see was a liar. Above all else, she didn't not want to believe that she had made a mistake by taking Lila's word over Marinette's.

Benigna frowned. "No, because we were never in Achu. We were never invited there, let alone by the Prince. We've never even met him."

Ivan scowled. "Wait a minute...than where has Lila been all these months?"

"At home.", Benigna replied in an icy tone. "She's been sitting at home all these months because she said she couldn't go to school due to it being shut down."

Her glare fell upon Lila, as did every other eye in the courtyard. She didn't meet any of them, her eyes fixed on her lap. Adrien could scarcely contain his glee. It was all going according to plan. He wondered how Lila would try to get out of this one.

Suddenly, Jagged Stone's accented voice echoed throughout Francois Dupont College. "Good morning, Paris teens!"

Screams rose up as the rockstar strutted onto the scene like a peacock. Flipping up his red, white and blue Eiffel Tower sunglasses, he scanned the grounds. "Where's my girl, Marinette?"

"Marinette's not here.", called a voice. "She went on a family vacation."

Jagged's face fell. "What? Adrien didn't tell me she was absent!"

That was his cue. The blond model ran to Jagged's side. "Aw man, I totally spaced. But you know, Jagged, while you're here, why don't you say hi to your good friend—" He thrust an arm towards the brunette girl sitting at the next table. "Lila Rossi."

Lila looked terrified, her olive eyes wide. "Wait—Adrien brought you here?!" They eyes met, and Adrien gave her a devious smirk. One look, and she knew—he had set her up.

Jagged squinted at the dark-skinned girl. "Who?"

"Oh, surely, you remember Lila!", said Adrien, not even trying to sound sincere. "You know, the girl who saved your cat? You wrote a song all about her!"

Jagged blinked twice, confused. "Saved my cat? I don't have a cat! A cat wouldn't last two minutes around Fang!"

Adrien grinned wider. Everything was falling into place. Time to strike the final blow.

"She said you wrote her a song after she rescued your cat from an airplane lane.", he went on, not even bothering to conceal the false tones in his voice. "She told us all about it."

Jagged frowned, pointed a finger right at Lila, and then said loud enough for the whole school to hear, "I've never seen that girl before in my life!"

All eyes were on Lila. She was sweating, shaking, too afraid to move. If looks could kill, the school would be guilty of multiple counts of murder.

Her mother was the first to speak. "You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady."  
\-------------  
When Lila exited the principal's office, her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and her face was stained with tear tracks. Her mother looked like she didn't know whether to cry or scream at her daughter. "I'll pull the car around.", she said, every word turning to ice the moment it left her lips. "You're going to be grounded for a very long time."

Lila watched her mom walk away, her heart sinking lower and lower. Once she was gone, the young girl started sobbing all over again. It was all over. Her mother's trust. Her perfect school record. Her popularity with her classmates. It was all gone. She had nothing. And it was all because of...

"Cat got your tongue?"

The voice that had once made Lila's heart beat faster now ignited a flame of rage within her. Her head spun in the other direction, and there he was, leaning against the wall, wearing a smug expression that she was just itching to slap off his perfect model face.

"You...", she hissed, venom dripping from her voice. "You did this!"

Adrien stopped smiling to frown at her. "You bet I did.", he said, eyes narrowed into slits. "My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner."

"How could you do this to me?!", she wept. "You've destroyed everything I've been working for since I got here! Why?! Why would you do this?! I thought we had a deal!"

Adrien stood up straight. "That's what I thought, too. Until I overheard you plotting against Marinette—again—when you thought you were alone in the classroom."

Lila paled. "I...uh..."

Adrien didn't wait for her to try. Not this time. He was done waiting for Lila. "If you're not going to hold up your end of the bargain, Lila, why should I hold up mine?"

Lila tried to plead to Adrien's all-too-forgiving side. "Look, Adrien, I am so sorry! I admit it, I messed up! But I learned my lesson this time, I swear! I'll never hurt Marinette again! Help me out of this! Give me another chance!"

Adrien shook her head. "I've given you plenty of chances, Lila. And you threw all of them away. Its clear these chances mean nothing to you. Just like your word means nothing to me. Why should I believe you feel sorry now, after all the times you claimed you were truly sorry and then went right back to your old ways?"

Adrien shook his head, glaring at the Italian girl. "You're never gonna change, Lila, at all, and I was an idiot for thinking for so long that there was some good in you. A guy can only hope for so long. The deal is off. I want nothing more to do with you, Lila Rossi. Go to a new school, go back to Italy, I don't care. Just stay away from me. And from Marinette."

"She's only in the way because she's jealous—"

"Jealous?!", Adrien cut her off harshly. "She was jealous of you?!" He was tired of the lies. Tired of her blaming everyone but herself. At least not in Adrien's book. "No, Lila...I think the problem is you're jealous of her. Because unlike you, she doesn't feel the need to lie about herself to look good. She doesn't need to threaten and bully others to keep them in line. She's popular for who she really is, not for who she pretends to be. And that's why you wanted her to lose everything. Because she has everything you want, but are too insecure and selfish to have."

Lila was speechless. Adrien took advantage of her silence to deliver one final message. "I've told you before Lila. You can always count on me. But not if you hurt the people I care about. And that includes Marinette."

And with that, he turned his back on her, both figuratively and literally. He didn't turn back, not when a car horn honked, not when Lila's footsteps faded away, not when he heard the sounds of a car leaving.

He looked up to see Alya standing there, her face completely blank. They stared at each other for a moment. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Almost everything."

"Oh."

Silence reigned between them once more. Alya looked up, tears forming behind her brown glasses. "Adrien, be honest...do you think she'll forgive me?" She didn't need to say a name. He knew who she was talking about.

Adrien paused. Then he said, "She will. She probably shouldn't, but she will."

Alya gave him a curt nod. She was willing to do anything, even grovel, if it meant she got her best friend back.


	6. Be-What?!

Marinette finished applying the makeup that had been set up for her, admiring her reflection. For her appearance at dinner, she had chosen to wear her dark hair loose, with a single white lotus blossom tucked behind her ear, with a set of pearl jewelry with a matching necklace and earrings. She smiled as she admired her reflection in the mirror. Hiding Tikki in the folds of her hanfu top, she exited her temporary quarters and walked into the dining hall to meet the rest of the family.

The dining hall was just as splendidly decorated as the rest of the palace, the same ancient portraits of rulers past, the same banners with the family crest. Marinette swore the dining table was had to be at least a mile long. Dozens of people sat around it, all dressed in the same Chinese finery that she had been given.

Aunt Jun smiled seeing her. Part of her face had been painted white, with brightly-colored eyeshadow and blush popping out from the paleness of the powder. Her silk dark purple robes were grand and elegant, glittering with designs of gold and silver, and her hair had been piled inti an elaborate style on top of her head. "Marinette! So good to see you! And don't you clean up nicely?"

Addressed blunette smiled at the compliments.

Jun ushered her to one part of the table, where some teenagers sat. The girls were dressed in ensembles similar to Marinette's, some with fancier hairstyles and a tad more makeup on, while the boys donned simple robes of dark yet iridescent hues. When they saw Marinette approach, they all cried out in delight.

"These are your cousins, some first, some second.", Jun explained to her.

She gestured to two girls. "These are my own granddaughters, Mei..." She gestured to the girl in a sky blue hanfu, who smiled sweetly.

"...and Ying." She gestured to the other in sea green, who gave Marinette a friendly wave.

They took her by the arms and pulled her into the seat between them, their presence warm and comforting.

"I'll leave you to it."

As Jun left, Marinette found herself peppered with questions and comments from her cousins.

"Did you really spend your whole life in France?"

"What is Thomas like? Is he nice?"

"Do you like baking like Aunt Sabine?"

"You're so pretty! You must get that from your mom!"

Marinette was happy to answer their questions and thank them for their compliments.

She was over the moon. Her family was making her feel wanted and appreciated completely, something she had not felt since Lila's return to school. The whole conversation with her newfound family, she did not give Alya, Nino, or even Adrien a second thought. She was too busy living in the moment.

The servants came and served the food. There were spring rolls, kung pao chicken, chow mein, beef lo mein, peking duck, crab rangoon, fried rice, egg rolls, and dumplings stuffed with every edible sort of meat. Ronin even announced that they would be having fried ice cream and egg custard tarts for dessert. It was a feast fit for royalty—which, of course, they were.

As soon ad the main course was finished, Rong got to his feet, clinking his glass.

"Attention, dearest family.", he said after clearing his throat. "As you all know, tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight, my dearest little sister Sabine has returned to us." He gestured towards his sister, dressed in red-and-gold silk with pinkish-red flowers in her hair.

"And with her, she has brought her husband, Thomas." He gestured to Tom, dressed in a simple black Chinese outfit, his hair and mustache combed nicely. "In the short time I have known him, he has shown himself to be true of heart, said heart loving my sweet sister with all of it."

Tom smiled at his brother-in-law.

"Not only that, the love that he shares with her has produced a daughter." He gestured towards the blunette towards the further end of the table.

"Marinette...when I look into your eyes, I can see all the good qualities your mother possessed at your age." Rong smiled kindly. "I believe that I speak on everyone's behalf that with these three here, our family is now complete."

Everyone clapped and murmured in agreement.

Rong took a deep breath. "And now that you are here...I believe that you can help us."

This peeked the interests of the Dupain-Chengs, leaning a bit closer to hear better.

"Trying times have fallen upon our beloved land. Our armies are weak. We are vulnerable to threats from outside forces. In times such as these, we must cement our alliance with our old neighbor, Sidoria. With our strengths and resources combined, we will remain well. But to do so, extreme measures must be taken."

Rong walked towards Marinette, glass still in hand, staring at her with dark, glassy eyes. "Marinette...your mother has told me all about you. How you are kind and brave, how you are always willing to help, how you always put the greater good before your own. You are a strong, selfless woman. And we need that to pull this alliance off. Now, you are young, I know that. I understand if you feel I'm putting too much pressure on you..."

Marinette quickly rose to her feet. "No...don't worry about me, Uncle Rong. I can do it."

She was not scared of pressure. She was Ladybug. She saved Paris on a regular basis, while still juggling schoolwork, friendships, drama, class representative duties, and trying to confess to Adrien. She could handle anything.

"Whatever you need me for, I can help you."

Rong's smile was as bright as the sun that was beginning to set in the distance. "Wonderful! I was hoping you'd be up to the task!"

Marinette could see the smiles on her other relative's faces from the corner of her eye. She felt surges of pride rush through her veins. She was helping, and they were praising her for it. She hadn't felt this kind of feeling in months.

"It is settled than!", announced Rong, his voice proud and jubilant. He placed his hands on Marinette's shoulders and locked gazes with her. "As if this moment forward, you are betrothed to the youngest Prince of Sidoria!"

A silence fell upon the dining hall. Marinette's jaw fell open, her big blue eyes growing even bigger, at least twice their usual size. Her mother had been in the middle of peeling a piece of food, and now her hands had gone stiff, allowing the morsel to slip out of her fingers and fall back onto her plate with a splat. Her father had frozen with his glass raised to his lips, and now the sweet drink was dribbling off his chin and down his chest, staining his clothes.

It took Marinette thirty seconds to full register what her uncle had just said. "Betrothed?! Meaning...meaning I have to get married?!"

Her head was spinning. She felt like she might pass out. The turn of events did not sit well with her. She shook off the aftershocks and looked Rong right in the eye.

"No! Nooooo...no! Nope! Nuh-uh! Ix-nay! Not gonna happen!"

Rong's happy smile darkened into a frown of irritation. "You just said you could help us with whatever we needed you for."

"I just thought I could host a visit with them!", Marinette insisted. "Deliver some presents! Butter them up! Not marry into their family!"

Sabine stood up. "Rong, be reasonable!", she cried. "You can't seriously expect Marinette to marry someone she doesn't even know!"

"She will know him.", Jun insisted. "We sent him a letter, telling him to come to our palace in a week's time to meet his bride-to-be."

Marinette shook her head. "No way! I am not getting married! I'm only sixteen!"

At that, every face in the room looked at her funny. "Sixteen?", remarked Rong. "Well, better late than never."

"You don't look a day over fifteen!", one aunt said sweetly.

Marinette started waving her arms around wildly in true Marinette fashion. "Are you not hearing me?! I said I'm not doing it!"

Rong's frown became stronger. "This union will cement our friendship with Sidoria. Why are you so against this? Don't you want to help us?" "Of course I do!", Marinette cried. "But...can't we just sign a treaty with them or something? Why does it have to involve marriage?"

"Wedlock is the strongest kind of alliance.", Rong explained. "By joining our two families together, our agreement shall be nearly unbreakable. This is the best way to secure our kingdom. And as part of our family, you have a duty to do whatever you must to protect our people." He shook his head sadly. "I just don't understand why you're fighting this so hard. This is an honor in our code."

Marinette frowned. "If its such a honor, get someone else to do it! I just got here! Leave me out of this!"

Rong sighed. "I would...except every other acceptable woman in our family is already married."

Marinette's eyes widened again as she turned back to her cousins, who nodded in confirmation.

"Even you two?!", she cried, pointing a finger back and forth between Mei and Ying.

Both nodded again.

Marinette took a deep breath before facing her uncle once more. "I'm sorry. I want to help you, really, I do. But this just too much to ask. I barely know you guys, or this kingdom, and now you expect me to marry someone I don't even know? To fulfill some duty that I never promised myself to? You think just because we're related, that means you can just pluck me out of France, bring me over here, ask me to make a huge commitment like this, and I'll just say, 'yes, master, whatever you wish, master.'"

"But here's the thing—I never asked to stay. I never asked to devote myself to you. I have a life back in Paris. I can't just ditch it entirely. I'm sorry, but I can't do what you want me to do."

She finished her rant with a heavy sigh. "I hope you understand. But I'm sure if we put our heads together, we can think of another way to make peace."

She looked to her uncle hopefully, only for hopes to fall when she saw his face, tight with anger.

"No...no, you will marry the prince.", he said in a tone that was cold as ice yet still somehow seething with heated anger. "Because I am not just your uncle. I am your King. And as long as you are in my palace, you will do as I say. And if I say that you will be married to the Prince of Sidora in two weeks' time, than that is what will happen. Even if I gave to drag you down the aisle myself."

One look at his raging face sent Marinette back into that shy, timid, helpless version of herself that had existed before Ladybug. She had faced numerous akumas and dangers in the past, but none of them terrified her so much as the look her uncle wire, with the deep frown and eyes that could shoot daggers. He glared down at her for a few seconds longer before sitting back at the dinner table to resume eating.

Marinette sat back at the table, eating the rest of her meal in silence and wondering how her life could go to such depths of hell in less than five minutes.


	7. Reconnect, Unconnect

Marinette walked back to her bedroom in a sort of haze. She hardly noticed her surroundings, only just aware enough to navigate the hallways to get to her room. Once there, she walked to her bed and fell facedown on the sheets, perfect for muffling the anguished scream that came out of her mouth seconds later.

How had it all gone so wrong? An hour ago, she was on cloud nine, surrounded by luxury and a new family. Now, she was being forced into an arranged marriage to a total stranger. It was not how she had pictured she would get engaged. Her future was being set in stone for her, someone else holding the carving tools, and she had no say on how it would be shaped.

Tikki placed herself on the satin divan pillows sitting on the bed, just as distressed at this turn of events. Being alive since near the dawn of time itself, Tikki had seen a lot of things. And arranged marriages was one of them. Some of her holders' parents, whose union, which had produced the holder, had been an arranged marriage. Some of them had seen their friends go through with arranged marriages. Some of the holders had even been forced into arranged marriages themselves.

Sometimes, after many years together, the couple grew to love one another deeply. Sometimes, they became dear friends, fond of each other, but no more. But sadly, more often than not, the couple would spend the rest of their lives together distant and unhappy with the match. At best, they remained strangers to one another, just as they had the day they met, and at worst, they spent their lives loathing each other. Tikki feared this might become the case with Marinette and her new betrothed.

Finally, the dark-haired girl lifted her head and groaned. "Tikki, what am I gonna do?", she moaned miserably. "I can't get married! I'm way too young!"

Tikki sighed. "I know. Its not an ideal situation. I mean, I've seen arranged marriages before, but I thought we were past all that now."

"So did I!", cried Marinette.

She sat up on her bed and held her head in her hands. "This is a disaster!", she wailed. "Now I'm gonna be married off against my will to some guy I don't even know and I'll be stuck at his stupid palace forever and I'll never get to go back home and I'll never graduate and go to fashion school and become a great designer and how will I be Ladybug if—"

She sat up suddenly. "Wait a minute...that's it!"

"What's it?"

"The Miracle Box!", she cried, jumping off her bed. "I'll just put on the Horse Miraculous and transform and get a portal out of here and back to Paris!"

"But Marinette...Rong will find you.", said Tikki. "He'll find you, get spies to track you down, like he had spies tell him where your mother was. And Paris will be the first place they'll look!"

Marinette stopped for a second, then shook her head. "Well than...I'll just have to assume a new identity. Better than living out a loveless marriage to a rich snob."

She walked to her bag, pretty secure of her escape plan. She picked it up, undid the zipper, opened it wide...

...and there was nothing there.

Marinette's heart dropped. "Where is it?!", she screamed. Tikki zoomed over, looking equally horrified as her chosen turned her bag upside down and shook it, hoping against hope that the Box would somehow miraculously reappear and fall out. "What happened to my Miracle Box?!"

Before Tikki could say anything to cheer her up, her phone rang from her vanity desk on the other side of the room. As her kwami hid, Marinette walked over and picked it up to see Alya's contact photo taking up the screen.

She swiped to accept, and her real face appeared. "Hi, Alya. What's—"

She never finished her sentence, as Alya starting bawling her eyes out.

"Alya, what is it? What happened?", Marinette asked, pulling up her chair to sit down. Something told her this was going to take a while.

Alya took off her glasses and rubbed at her teary eyes. "I'm so sorry, Marinette! I'm so, so sorry! I am the worst best friend ever!"

Marinette was silent. She didn't know what was happening, or how to react. "I...I don't understand. Where's this coming from?"

"Its Lila.", Alya sniffled, and on instinct, Marinette felt her anger flare up. Just the mere mention of that name cheesed her off.

Alya sniffed and continued. "You were right about her. You were right about everything. Today, her mom showed up at school, and I wanted to ask her questions about her visit to see Prince Ali of Achu, but she said Lila told her that the school was closed 'cause the principal was still akumatized."

This cheesed off Marinette. Lila had lied to her own mother to get out of school? That was low, even for her.

Alya went on, sniffing every few words. "And then, Jagged Stone arrived at school to surprise you with a free concert, but of course, you weren't there. So then, Adrien showed him Lila, and asked about them being good friends and him writing a song about her as reward for saving his cat. And Jagged said he'd never seen her before in his life!"

Marinette blinked twice. "Adrien?"

Alya smiled, just a little bit. "Oh, yeah. That's the thing, girl. Turns out he knew about Lila. He convinced Jagged to come to school, knowing he would disprove her stories about him. Then he tipped off Lila's mom, telling her that Jagged Stone was performing at our school, so she'd go to cover the event, and find out what was really going on with Lila."

Marinette leaned back, eyes wide. "Adrien did all that...for me?"

It perplexed her. She knew Adrien was her friend, but what happened to not exposing Lila? What happened to their friendship?

Alya answered her question soon enough. "I overheard him talking to her after. He said he only became friends with her because she promised to leave you alone if she did. But then he overheard her plotting to turn us all against you, and he decided the deal was off."

Alya rolled her eyes. "Man, you shoulda heard him, girl! He really ripped into her! He said that she's jealous of you, because you don't have to lie to look good, because you're popular by being yourself, and that's why she hates you, because you have everything she wants, but can't have because she's selfish and insecure. Then he said, 'You can always count on me, but not if you hurt the people I care about. And that includes Marinette.'"

Marinette was elated when she heard that. She fell back over her chair and swooned. "He cares about me!"

She wanted to thrash around uselessly and dance around the room. She had been wrong about Adrien. He hadn't lied about being there for her. He had been looking out for her the whole time. He had sacrificed himself, allowed himself to bask in Lila's nauseating presence in an attempt to protect Marinette. And when the time came, he stepped up to the plate.

Never in her life had Marinette been so happy to be wrong. Maybe he wasn't as toxic as she had thought before. After all, if he was willing to cooperate with Lila Rossi of all people, just for the promise of keeping Marinette safe, than he must care deeply for her. Mari was all the way up on cloud nine. But she swiftly fell back to earth when she saw the still-somber look on Alya's face.

"Alya?"

The auburn-haired girl on the screen took off her smoggy glasses and wiped newborn tears from her brown eyes. "I am so, so sorry, Marinette.", she whimpered. "You tried to tell me about Lila, but I wouldn't listen. She told me she could get me connected with Ladybug, and I just...I got so excited. I wanted to believe it was true. But it was all a lie. I should have listened to you. You were only trying to protect me."

Marinette smiled sadly. "I didn't want her to ruin your blog.", she said. "With her interviews about Ladybug. You're such a good reporter, Alya. I didn't want your followers to lose faith in you."

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better, Mari.", said Alya, putting her glasses back on. "We both know I'm a lousy reporter. I gave you all that flack about 'checking the facts' and I didn't even bother to do my own homework."

"Well, in your defense,", said Marinette. "Its not like you could have just called Ladybug on the phone and asked her if she was friends with Lila."

Alya shook her head. "Why are you making excuses for me? I don't deserve it. I was a rotten person, and an even worse friend."

Marinette smiled at her sincerely. "For the same reason I was trying to protect you from Lila's lies in the first place, even if you didn't trust me. Because you're my best friend, Alya. You're the one who taught me to believe in myself. You pushed me to stand up to Chloe. You taught me that all that's necessary for the triumph of evil is if good men do nothing. You made me who I am today."

Alya was tearing up again, only this time from happiness. "Girl...I love you. You're the best. I don't deserve you for a best friend." She wiped her wetted eyes. "And I promise, when you get home, I'm gonna do everything I can to make it up to you."

At that, Marinette's smile vanished, replaced by a worried frown. With the rush she had gotten from the news of Adrien standing up for her, and the warmness in her heart from Alya's sincere apology, Mari had completely forgotten about her new predicament. Her blue eyes glanced downwards and darted back and forth, as her mind raced to come up with a way to explain all this to Alya.

"Marinette?"

Alya's joy had turned to concern. "Are you okay? Is everything alright over there?"

Marinette laughed nervously. "Um...Alya? I have some...news."

Alya blinked twice. "What kinda news?" Mari forced a smile on her face. "Well...its really funny, you're gonna laugh."

Alya leaned forward.

Marinette gulped. "You see, the thing is...I..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm getting married." She kept her eyes shut, waiting to hear Alya's reaction.

"Sorry, girl! We must have a bad connection or something."

She looked back to see Alya's frame shaking, clearly from shaking the device, thinking there was a bug in the system. "It sounded like you said you're getting married."

Marinette gulped again. Hoo boy. She looked back at Alya's face on the screen. "I did. Because I am." She counted the three seconds it took for her words to sink in.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Alya's jaw hung open, her eyes bulging out from behind her glasses. "You're getting married?! To who?! You've been there for like, a day! How could you have fallen in love with someone enough to get engaged?!"

Marinette sighed. "I didn't fall in love."

Alya sat back. "But you just said..."

"I didn't say I was doing it of my own free will, did I?", remarked Mari in a deadpan tone.

It took Alya a moment to figure it out. "Wait...are you saying its an arranged marriage?!"

Marinette sighed, but nodded anyway.

Alya got teed off. "An arranged marriage?! What is this, the seventeen-hundreds?! I thought we were all past that crud!"

"Apparently, my mother's country isn't.", Marinette sighed. "Right now, I'm in Coccidellenae, where Maman was born. The reason we came here is because her older brother, my uncle Rong insisted we come here. And now he's saying I have to marry the son of another family to bond us together. Kind of a game of 'don't fight us, we're the in-laws.'"

"Girl, you need to ditch those guys and come back home.", said Alya, as if it were that simple.

"That's easier said than done, Alys.", Mari moaned. "See, the truth is—"

"Marinette!"

The dark-haired girl gasped and spun around in her chair to see her Aunt Jun, with her dark, soulless eyes directed right at the new face on her phone screen. "Who are you talking to?"

Marinette flushed in worry as Jun strutted over to where she sat to glare at Alya's image on her device. "Aunt Jun, this is my friend, Alya, from back in France. Alya, this is my Great-Aunt Jun. She escorted me and my parents to Coccidellenae."

Alya gave a friendly wave and smile, intended for the elder woman. "Nice to meet you."

Instead of replying nicely, Jun plucked the phone off the table and held it close to her face, her dark eyes narrowed at the Creole girl. "Miss Alya...I'm going to have to ask that you never call this number again."

"What?!"

Now Alya was mad. "You can't tell me what to do."

"As the Baroness of Chunbridge, and the aunt of King Rong Cheng the Third, I can."

Alya was thrown off-guard by that. "Wait...King?!"

The dots connected in her mind. But before she could utter another word, Jun dropped the phone to the hardwood floor and stomped on it, hard, so that the last thing Alya saw was the sole of her expensive shoe before the screen went totally black.

Marinette stared at her broken phone in horror, falling out of her chair and onto her knees, gingerly picking up the shattered device in her fingers. She raised her head to look up at Aunt Jun with tears in her eyes. "Why?"

"It is for the best.", she was told curtly. "You are a Princess now. And as a princess, you must devote yourself entirely to your new duties, both as a royal lady, and as a future bride. Who you are now is entirely defined by your relation to the King.

She leaned down and lowered her head so that her lips whispered into Marinette's ear. "From this day forward, you are never to contact your former friends again. Nor are you to mention them, Paris, or your old life. You belong to the royal family now. And to Coccidellenae."

She pulled back slowly, allowing her words to sink in. She smiled smugly. "Now, do get some rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day. We will start discussing your wedding plans."

And with that, she spun on her heel and exited as swiftly as a breeze, shutting the door behind her.

Marinette sat on her knees in the center of the floor, allowing it all to process in her mind. She looked back at her destroyed phone, the last link to her friends, and gingerly ran her fingers along the cracks in the screen. Her eyes welled up with tears. She could no longer bear it. Allowing her phone to from her hand, she buried her face in her palms and burst out sobbing right then and there, weeping for the life, the friends and the freedom that had been taken from her.


	8. No Choice

Knock, knock.

"Marinette?"

Slowly, Sabine opened the door to her daughter's new bedroom and peeped her head over. The sight she saw broke her heart. Her sweet baby girl, her only child, curled up on the bed, sobbing into her pillow.

"Oh, honey..."

She rushed to her daughter's bedside and sat beside her shaking, sobbing form, stroking her back in soothing motions. "Aunt Jun told me what happened. I'm so sorry."

Marinette turned her head so that it lay sideways on her pillow, showing her swollen, tear-filled blue eyes. "Its not fair, Maman. I never asked for any of this. I have to leave my home, all my friends, give all my hopes and dreams...and for what? So I can be nothing but some rich snob's baby-making trophy wife?"

Sabine sighed heavily. "Believe me, Marinette. I understand. This...This the life that I was trying to protect you from. This is why I ran away. So that I could be free to live my life the way I wished. To love who I love, be who I wanted to be, not what everyone else wanted me to be...and I wanted my children to have that same freedom."

She blinked back tears. "But I guess it was all in vain."

Marinette sniffled as she sat up. "Maman, isn't there any way I can get out of this?", she asked desperately.

"I'm afraid not.", whispered Sabine. "Rong seemed to have learning from my running away. He's really beefed up security since I lived here. There's little chance we can escape the castle. And there's an even smaller chance we can change his mind about the marriage."

Marinette stared at her lap. "Than...I guess I have no choice.", she whimpered. "I'm gonna have to marry the prince."

Sabine hugged her daughter. "I'm sorry that this happened to you, Marinette. But I promise, your dad and I will be here for you, every step of the way, all the way to the altar."

Marinette hugged her back, still reeling from this sharp new turn in her path. She never imagined her life would turn out this way. She had been so worried about Lila taking all her friends away from her. But she never thought that she would be taken away from them.  
\--------------  
Alya stared at her phone screen. After Jun's intervention, she had tried a dozen times to call Marinette back, but the connection always failed. Clearly, Jun had demolished her devices to sever their contact. Alya wanted to scream.

How could this have happened? How could Sabine's older brother be King? More importantly, how could he be forcing Marinette to get married against her will? She knew that some cultures still practiced arranged marriages, but she had never thought one of her closest friends would have to go through one.

Why did Marinette have to marry this guy anyway, whoever he was? What did her family have to gain from legally pairing her up with some random guy they chose? They were teenagers, crying out loud! They were just barely getting a grip on puberty! And now they were expecting Marinette to be ready for a lifetime commitment?! The girl couldn't even commit to getting to school on time!

"Sis?"

She looked up to see Nora—sorry, Anasi, standing in the doorway.

"You look down in the dumps. What happened? Did Marinette not accept your apology?"

Alya winced. "She did. But its not that. I just found out something really crazy."

"What's that?"

She sighed. "Marinette just told me she's getting married."

Anasi blinked twice, then burst out laughing. "Ha ha! Good one, little sis! Marinette's getting married!"

Alya scowled at her chortling big sister. "What's so funny? Its true!"

Anasi rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Alys. But last I checked, you and your little friend are way too young to get hitched." She walked away, still chuckling under her breath. "Getting married...yeah, right."

Alya sat there, deep in thought. Her sister's quick dismissal, however irritating, had put things in perspective for her. The original plan was to go to school and tell everyone straight out about what she had discovered. But it was too unbelievable. Alya never would have believed it herself had the places been switched. Chances are, they would react the same way as Nora, and assume that Alya was just pulling their leg. Not to mention, after how Lila had fooled them all, the class would be especially skeptical of claims with no evidence.

Wait a minute...evidence...

A good reporter always checks her facts.

Alya smiled as she pulled out her computer and typed in the first of many Google searches. She had always said it. Time to act on it.


	9. History of the Chengs

"Alright class, free period!", announced Madame Bustier. "For the last forty-five minutes of school!"

Everyone cheered. Free periods were the best. They were free to spend it however they wished, being creative in the art room or in the gym doing sports.

Just as they were gathering their bags, Alya's hand shot up in the air from the second row. "Um, Madame Bustier? If we are having a free period, there's something I'd like to show the whole class. May I?"

"I don't see why not."

Alya smiled and reached into her backpack, pulling out her laptop, ignoring the moans of frustration from her friends.

"Come on, Alya! We were gonna go to art and make something for Marinette!", Nathanael whined.

"Yeah, we need to make it up to her! For what we did with Lila!", added Alix.

Alya got up and walked to the front of the classroom, plugging her computer to the screen Madame Bustier used for digital presentations. "Trust me, guys...this is about Marinette."

This caught the class's attention. "What is it?", asked Mylène. "Is she okay?"

Alya faced her friend, chewing on her lower lip. "Well...it depends on what you mean by 'okay'..."

Okay, now everyone was worried. "What is it? Tell us!", yelled Kim.

Alya pushes up her glasses. "Okay...good news and bad news. The good news is, Marinette and I made up last night when I Skyped her. She's fine...physically."

Max frowned. "And...the bad news?"

"The bad news is...she can't come back to Paris because she's getting married."

A silence fell on the room. A dozen pairs of wide eyes all blinked back at her, empty and emotionless. Alya held her breath and waited for their next reaction.

Out of the blue, Nino burst out laughing. Adrien soon followed suit. After him came Kim, Max, Alix, and before they knew, the whole class was roaring with laughter, throwing their heads back and banging their desk in hysteria. Even the teacher was clutching her stomach and chortling like there was no tomorrow.

"Ha! Good one, Alya!", Nino wheezed our between howls of laughter. "You really had us there! We thought something was seriously wrong!"

He looked up, expecting his girlfriend to be grinning and laughing along, a confirmation of her little joke. But to his surprise, her face was serious. "Alys?"

Alya sighed. "Nino...lookit my face. Do I have my joking face on?"

The laughter quickly died down as everyone else saw the somber look on Alya's face before turning to Nino, whose cocoa complexion had just turned a shade or paler. "No..."

"What does that mean?"

Nino gulped as realization hit him like a truck. "That you're not joking?"

Alya gave him a curt nod of the head and counted the seconds until the truth sunk in for the rest of them.

"WHAT?!"

The classroom exploded again, this time in shouts of disbelief and anger.

"Married?! What do you mean she's getting married?! What kinda head injuries did she get that made her think it was a good idea?! Who even is this guy?!"

"The Prince of Simosa."

"Simosa?! Where the heck is that?!"

"It's a little country close to Signapore, neighboring the country of Coccidellenae, where Marinette's mom was born...as Royal Princess."

Another shocked silence.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that last part?", asked Max.

Alya opened her laptop and typed in something. On the screen, there appeared an old photograph, dated from the 1980's. There was an old Chinese guy dressed in grand robes of red, green and gold, with a golden crown on his head, adorned with red and orange jewels, fashioned to looked like a rising Phoenix.

Standing next to him was a young lady, no older than they were right now, adorned in a silken Chinese-style gown of pearl pink and silver, her long dark hair arranged in a fancy hairdo with flowers and jewels decorating it. But the face...the class recognized her face right away.

That was Sabine Cheng, Marinette's mom.

"As it turns out...Sabine is the long-lost Princess of Coccidellenae. That man next to her is her now deceased father, King Cheng Xiang the Seventh."

She brought up a news article on the screen next to the picture of Sabine with her father. The headline read RUNAWAY ROYAL: PRINCESS RUNS AWAY. "When Sabine was sixteen, she ran away from the palace and her arranged marriage and escaped here to Paris. But no one back at the palace or Coccidellenae knew where she was up until a week ago, when a spy reported back to him."

She brought up another photo over the other two. It was another Chinese man, much younger, all decked out in a magnificent military uniform, gleaming with medals and decorations of gold and bronze, with a flowing red velvet cape trimmed with gold falling around him. The Phoenix crown now rested on his own head, flashing brilliantly in the light. He was the epitome of regality.

"This is Sabine's older brother, the current King of Coccidellenae, Rong Cheng the Third. Last week, someone in his spy organization went to France on a mission and accidentally stumbled upon Sabine and her family at the bakery. When Rong found out through the spy, he sent for Sabine and her husband and child to come to Coccidellenae to get to know them."

Another article popped up over the photo. There was a photo of Marinette and her parents, just barely visible through the window of a limousine. The headline said ROYAL FAMILY GROWS: LONG-LOST PRINCESS RETURNS WITH HUSBAND & CHILD.

There wasn't a jaw in the room that was closed by now. Nathanael stood up. "Wait...does this mean Marinette is a princess, too?"

Alya shrugged. "I guess."

Rose's blue eyes glittered momentarily. "Wow! Lucky!" It was bad timing, but Rose's obsession with fairytale princesses knew no limits.

Juleka spoke up. "But why is she marrying the Prince of Sardinma—"

"Simosa."

"Whatever. How can she marry someone she just met?"

Alya grew sad. Then she brought up another article. The headline now read POWER COUPLE: SIMOSIAN PRINCE TO WED COCCIDELLENAEAN PRINCESS IN ARRANGED ROYAL MARRIAGE.

"WHAT?!"

Alya sighed. "Yeah...apparently, King Rong wants to ally his country with Simosa's against future threats to the monarchy. And he thinks the best way to cement their friendship is through a political marriage between the two royal families. And he's picked Marinette to be the royal bride."

"This is ridiculous!", Max shouted. "Marinette cannot get married! She's barely even sixteen! Are there no child protection laws in that country?"

Everyone else murmured in agreement.

Alya groaned. "I looked it up, and apparently, the minimum age for marriage is fifteen. Actually, most families set to work arranging the marriages way before then so that the kids are ready to walk down the aisle as soon as they're old enough."

Mylène stared. "Wait, so...Marinette's never coming back?"

Alya's shoulders slumped. "No...she's not."

The class felt as if they had been stabbed in the heart by a dear friend.

"No! She can't be gone!", cried Nino. "We have to do something!"

"Like what?!", exclaimed Alix. "It's not like we can just fly all the way over to Coccidellenae and tell the King 'you can't force Marinette to get married'."

Adrien shook his head. "There must be something we can do..."

The whole class hung their heads in defeat. No one said a word, but their silence was clear enough a message for Adrien...

There was nothing they could do.  
———————————  
"Master? You told me when to alert you if I felt something amiss with the Miraculous."

"Yes, Nooroo?"

"I have felt most of the Miraculous leave the country."

"What?!"

"Yes, but I can sense where they have gone."

"Tell me now."

"Coccidellenae."

"Where is that?"

"A small country on the Meridian Seas."

"..."

"..."

"I will have Nathalie book a flight to this country at once. I'll simply tell Adrien I'm going on a business trip there. Thank you for telling me this, Nooroo."

"Yes, Master."


End file.
